ESPN Did Not Mention Caleb Moore's Death For 32 Minutes

Earlier today Caleb Moore passed away following complications
related to injuries suffered during a freestyle snowmobile
competition at this year's X Games competition. But despite the
seriousness of the situation and ESPN's close ties to the event,
SportsCenter was slow to report the news of Moore's death.

It was
first reported yesterday by the Denver Post that
Moore was not expected to survive his injuries. And yet, during
today's 11:00 AM and 12:00 PM live editions of SportsCenter,
there was not a single mention of Moore.

At approximately 12:47 PM, several
outlets reported that Moore passed away. It was 19 minutes
before Moore's death was first mentioned by ESPN, in their ticker
at the bottom of the page. And their first thought was to let us
know just how rare it is for somebody to die at the competition
they created...

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Another 32 minutes passed before SportsCenter mentioned Moore's
death on air, including a statement from Moore's family. That was
immediately followed by a statement from ESPN which wanted to
make clear that ESPN takes safety seriously...

And in the 32 minutes between first mentioning Moore's death in
the ticker and discussing it on air, SportsCenter covered the
following topics:

Approximately five minutes on the Ravens moving their
practice indoors because of the weather

Approximately three minutes on Dwight Howard re-injuring his
shoulder (with the introduction of "Developing Story")

Six minutes on the phone with NBA insider Chris Broussard
discussing among other things the Reggie Evans "lesson on smack
talking LeBron James and the Miami Heat"

An interview with Colin Kaepernick discussing obstacles he
has overcome

Various highlights

Of course, snowmobiling is a fringe sport and if the X Games were
not being broadcast on ESPN, Moore's death may have never been
mentioned at all. But it still feels like ESPN is brushing this
death under the rug because the X Games is their baby and a
moneymaker worth protecting.